Ençusa (more commonly found as anchusa on the Web) is a sort of baked vegetable casserole, or a frittata-like dish, but with very little egg. A note on the name: Anchusa is also the name of an edible plant in the borage family (common names include bugloss and alkanet); this meaning is not related to the dish described here (though it would be totally possible to cook an anchusa de anchusa).

When made with leeks, we call this dish prasifuçi (though some call it that regardless of what vegetable it’s made with).

Ingredients

• Vegetable of choice (green leafy vegetables, leeks, and courgette are common. Many versions also include onions), about 1 kg (scale to fit your skillet or oven dish).
• Eggs. I use 2, but you can use pretty much any number you want. If you use a lot, your dish will gradually become more of a frittata.
• Flour. You can use about 2 tablespoons of any flour you like, or about 1/4 cup bread crumbs or matzoh meal. You can also use a couple of slices of stale bread, briefly soaked in water or milk and then squeezed, or a couple of matzoh, also prepared similarly.
• Optional: cheese. I suggest about 100 gr feta or kasseri or other not-too-melty cheese (try manchego, aged cheddar, gouda, etc). Half and half feta and kasseri would also be good. Cut the cheese into about 5 mm (1/4 inch) cubes. Optionally, you can also use additional grated cheese for the top.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Oil for the pan. You can use any cooking oil you like; sunflower seed oil is traditional.

Method

Oven temperature: 180 degrees (350 fahrenheit)

1. Prepare the vegetables
   For greens, you can boil them until wilted, squeeze out some of the water when cool enough to handle (it’s fine to submerge them in cold water to save time and to keep them nice and bright green), then chop them finely. Alternatively, you can saute them until they lose much of their water.
   For leeks, cut them into chunks and boil them for a good long time (20 minutes or more), then squeeze and chop finely when cool enough to handle.
   For courgette, you can also boil, squeeze and chop. You can also slice them lengthwise into 1-1.5 cm (1/2 inch) slices, roast in a 200 degree (400 fahrenheit) oven for half an hour or so, cool, squeeze, and chop. Or you can grate with a coarse cheese grater, then saute.
2. Make the batter
   Combine the vegetables, eggs, flour, salt, and pepper in a bowl and give it all a good mix, then, if using, fold in the cheese.
3. Put in skillet or oven dish. If using a skillet, heat some oil in it over medium heat, then add the batter and smooth the top with a spoon. If using a baking dish, heat some oil in it in the oven, then add and smooth the batter.
4. Cook. In a skillet, you have the option of finishing the dish on the stove top (not for the faint of heart): turn your heat very low, cover and cook for a half hour or so. Flip over, cover again, and finish cooking. In a skillet or oven dish, you can finish cooking in the oven (this is more common and also much easier): cook, uncovered, until moist (not wet), which could take an hour or so. Note: cooking times for both methods will depend on how much water you squeezed out of the vegetables. Yours might be ready in half an hour or in an hour and a half.
5. Optional: finish the top. Sprinkle with grated cheese (optionally, cheese mixed with breadcrumbs), then brown the top. You can use the grill (broiler) for this step if you like.
6. Let cool a bit so it firms up. Then, you can cut it into slices or pieces right in the pan and serve with a pie server or spatula. You can also turn it over onto a plate or cutting board and serve it from there.

Notes:

If you intend to flip the ençusa in its pan and/or you intend to use cheese, you might consider using a non-stick pan.

You can serve ençusa warm, at room temperature, or cold.

Leftovers are great. In fact, its texture will be better a day or two after you make it.

Pictures

1. Boil the veggies

1. Squeeze boiled veggies to get rid of excess water

1. Saute veggies (instead of boiling)

2. Mix everything together in a bowl

3. Put batter in heated skillet or pan, then smooth and shape with a spoon

4. Cook until done. If cooking on the stove, flip it over and finish cooking. If roasting in the oven, no need to flip. You can brown the top under the grill if you like.

6. Ready to serve. Left to right: courgette, leek, chard